Minors Claim Historic County Success   01/11/2016

Kilshannig 0-17 O'Donovan Rossa 0-13

Kilshannig won the Rebel Og Minor A County Football Championship title on Saturday evening following a four point victory over West Cork champions O'Donovan Rossa at CIT. It completes a remarkable number of weeks for the club having won the U16 Premier 2 Football Championship at the start of the month. Victory was made all the more sweeter as Kilshannig were defeated in the North Cork Final but regrouped superbly since then to claim county honours. CIT was in superb condition that made for a splendid game with end to end action throughout.

Both sides swapped the lead in the opening period that left nothing between the teams at half time, 0-6 each. While Darragh O'Sullivan got the opening score from long range within the first minute, O'Donovan Rossa, with plenty of pace and skill up front hit three unanswered points to take the lead. The Skibbereen outfit though were guilty of missing a number of good opportunities due to some poor shooting but also some excellent pressure applied by the Kilshannig defence. Kilshannig were more clinical at the other end, O'Sullivan adding another point from 45 yards while Tony Brennan and Diarmuid O'Sullivan pointed to move 0-6 to 0-4 ahead. A couple of late frees however from O'Donovan Rossa ensured parity at the break. 

With it all to play for in the second half it was Kilshannig who took the game to their opponents, despite playing against the breeze. Darragh O'Sullivan and Eanna O'Hanlon put Kilshannig two in front before Skibb tied matters once again with two quick points. Kilshannig though made a telling breakthrough in the third quarter to move into the ascendancy. Jack Twomey and Kieran Twomey began to dominate midfield securing primary possession with Diarmuid and Darragh O'Sullivan causing endless problems in attack with the aid of Tony Brennan and Jack Kearney. Darragh O'Sullivan was imperious from placed balls and a close in point from Kearney helped to put more than one score between the sides for the first time, 0-13 to 0-09. Kilshannig were thankful to keeper Chris Taylor who made a superb save that would have drawn Skibb level, which would have been a huge momentum changer. Diarmuid O'Sullivan increased the lead the five but the West Cork side weren't done yet. With more space up front, they began to cause more problems with Dylan Hourihane in particular a huge threat. Kilshannig stuck to their task however through the McMahon brothers, Colm O'Shea and Conor Murphy making vital interceptions at times and excellent points from Bill Curtin and Jerome Murphy kept their opponents at arms length. Skibb made a late burst and managed to reduce the margin to three that made for a nervy final few minutes. However, those nerves were eased in injury time, Diarmuid O'Sullivan with his fifth from play to ensure there was no denying Kilshannig as they claimed a famous county title victory.

Scorers for Kilshannig: Darragh O'Sullivan 0-7 (0-4 frees) Diarmuid O'Sullivan 0-5, T Brennan, E O'Hanlon, J Kearney, J Murphy, B Curtin 0-1 each.

Kilshannig: C Taylor; C Barrow, K McMahon, C O'Shea; C McMahon, B Curtin, C Murphy; K Twomey, J Twomey; Darragh O'Sullivan, T Brennan, E O'Hanlon; J Kearney, Diarmuid O'Sullivan, J Murphy.






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Denis McCarthy
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